Sources of Stress and Strength: Contextualizing the Experience of Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren in Appalachia

ABSTRACT

In the rural United States (US), high rates of substance abuse have precipitated the need for many older adults to assume the role of primary caregiver for their grandchildren. This situation is particularly common in rural Appalachia, a region known for both sparse resources and strong kinship ties. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-one grandparent caregivers in rural Kentucky, we explore the fraught relationships these caregiving grandparents often have with their adult children, grandparents’ transition to the parental role and forfeiture of the grandparent role, and long-term concerns related to their capacity to physically and financially provide for grandchildren.

Abbreviations: GP: grandparent; GC: grandchild.

KEYWORDS:

• Grandparenting
• Central Appalachia
• stress

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by The Retirement Research Foundation (#2014-211:X); Igniting Research Collaborations; and the University of X Center for Clinical Translational Sciences.

Statement of ethics

This study consistently strove to protect the anonymity of research participants. All participants consented to the study. This study was approved by the University of X’s Institutional Review Board.

Notes

1. All names of participants have been changed to protect the identity of participants.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by The Retirement Research Foundation [2014-211] the University of X’s Igniting Research Collaborations mechanism, University of X’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science.